British Prime Minister Theresa May attends the Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons in London, Britain, on Feb. 27, 2019. Theresa May promised on Tuesday that the members of parliament (MPs) would be given a choice to vote on no-deal Brexit or delayed departure from the European Union (EU) if her deal is rejected in a meaningful vote in mid-March. (Xinhua/British Parliament/Jessica Taylor)
LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday continued her last-minute fight to save her Brexit deal as she was speaking in the parliament with a croaky voice to plead with MPs to back her deal, or "Brexit could be lost."
The prime minister, speaking in a parliamentary debate, asked the MPs to "back the improved deal or risk no deal at all."
"We have secured the best changes available," she told the MPs, "The time has come to back the deal."
"The danger for those of us who want to deliver, to have faith in the British public and deliver on their vote for Brexit, is that if this vote is not passed tonight, if this deal is not passed, then Brexit could be lost," she said.
"We should honor our democratic decisions," the prime minister said, referring to the 2016 referendum in which about 52 percent of the British people voted for leaving the European Union (EU).
Although May on Tuesday secured "legally binding" changes to her Brexit deal, prominent Brexit supporters said that the latest changes to the agreement were not enough to persuade them to back it in the meaningful vote, which is expected to start in several hours.
The prime minister is facing a possible a fatal blow in the crunch vote, the second meaningful vote since January, on her Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons from 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
May's Brexit deal was rejected by a big margin in the parliament in January. MPs demanded legally binding changes to the agreement.
However, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, did not buy the legally binding changes the prime minister secured on Monday night in Strasbourg, France.
"The reality is that nothing has changed," Corbyn said. "Nothing has changed. Not a single word was changed."
Corbyn said the Labour party put forward the idea of "remain and reform" in the referendum campaign.
Shortly after British Attorney General Geoffrey Cox spoke to MPs on Tuesday afternoon, the Brexiteer European Research Group said that "in light of our own legal analysis and others we do not recommend accepting the government's motion."
Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said the "government's strategy is now in tatters."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Unionist Party, which is from Northern Ireland and props up May's minority government, said that it will also reject the deal.
Cox told the parliament earlier Tuesday that the risk of Britain being tied to the European Union (EU) rules after Brexit "remains unchanged," despite the latest changes to May's Brexit deal.
Cox, who talked with EU officials over the past days to help May in saving her withdrawal agreement, told the House of Parliament there remained no "internationally lawful means" of leaving the Irish backstop without the EU's agreement.
Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but MPs rejected May's withdrawal deal by a large margin in January and demanded major changes. Before her Monday trip to the European continent, May has failed to secure significant concessions from Brussels.
If May's deal is voted down on Tuesday in the parliament, she then faces a possible defeat on a second vote on Wednesday to prevent a no-deal Brexit on March 29, and a third vote on Thursday to extend the Article 50 divorce process, likely until the end of June.
